Morning journal and courier., 1887-05-23
News by Telegraph FROM ALL QUARTERS. IA COLLISION AT SEA. Ocean Steamers Meet With
 A Crash. THE. VESSELS REACH PORT. All But A Few Passengers
 Saved. 0'BRIEN CONFINED TO THE BED. An Heiress ElOpes With A
 Negro.
O'BR|EN CONFINED TO THE BED.
OCEAN STEAMERS COLLIDE.

l OCEAN STEAMERS COLLIDE. ! Both Steamers Reach Sandy Hook In Safety-SeveraI Lives Lost.
 NEW YORK, May 22.-The steamers Celtic, from Liverpool, and Britannia, from New York for Liverpool, collidsd May 19 at 5:25 p. m. $50 miles off Sandy Hook. Both yes sels reached Sandy Hook bar at a. m. to- day and were compelled to remain there ow- | ing to dense fog. The disabled steamers ! were accompanied to Sandy Hook by the British Queen and Marengo to render assist l ance if necessay. Four of the Britan- | nic's steerage passengers were lost. All is well aboard the Celtic. The weather at the time of the collision was calm and the sea ! smooth with fog at intervals. The Britan- ! nic was struck on the port side and consid erably damaged. Her boats were lowered and filled with women and children from ! the cabin and steerage in very or derly and expeditions manner. It is to
 their shame that several men forced them selves into the boats. Meanwhile an exami- nation was made and the damage to the Britannia ascertained and it being found the vessel was not likely to founder such boats as were within hail were recalled and their occupants re- ceived on board. The others had boarded the Celtic A pad was made and placed over the hole in the Britannic's side and she turned about towards New York, having ar- ranged with the Celtic to keep her company. The saddest and most deplorable result of the accident is that several steerage passen- gers who were lying about aft at the time of the collision were killed and several others injured. The Celtic's bow is stove in, but otherwise the vessel is not damaged. The
 Britannic's compartment is full of water.
 The collision occurred during dense fog.
 The Celtic struck the Britannia bow-on, hit
 ting her abaft the mizzen port at No. 4 hatch.
 The Celtic had perceived the danger and rs-
 versed her engines and struck the Britannia
 glancing blow. The steamboat William
 Fletcher brought up the rest of the Celtic's
 passengers to the city this morning.
 Another report of the collision says: The
 Celtic struck the Britannia on the po1t side
 at the mizzen rigging and only Q few feet
 astern of the after end of the boiler room.
 The mizzen rigging, iron work and all was
 wrenched from i.s fastenings The rail was
 torn from it's foundation as far aft as the jigger mast As the striking steamship glanced along the side it rebounded twice i'll
 it's course, smashing two small boats to pieces
 and bending the heavy iron force pump that
 stood near the butchers quarters over against the deck like a piece of tin. As the bow
 struck the pur:p it caught a steerage passen-
 the body completely in two. A little girl of eleven years, named
 Robinson, who was with her mother
 and brother on her way to England for
 visit, was also crushed by the bow, her face
 and breast being split open. The scenes that
 followed are variously described. B. Story
 Smith of Boston, passenger on the Britan-
 nic, says: "There was very dense fog at the
 time of the collision and horns were blowing
 continually between 5:30 and p. m. On
 Thursday we heard the fog horn of another
 vessel. I went on deck and could see the
 large black hull of 8 steamer bearing down
 on us. Signals too slow, believe, were given
 on our vessel. We were proceeding at about
 regular fog speed, while the other steamer
 seemed to have little more than headway on.
 As the approaching vessel discovered us she
 changed her course somewhat and struck us
 obliquely. Rebounding she struck again and again, but with less force each time and finally she slipped along under our stern. There were evidently orders to launch boats, although heard none given, for half 8 dozen boats were manned and launched. The steerage passengers made stampede for the starboard stern boats, but were driven back by the officers and crew and the ladies were allowed to embark first. Three of the boats got off safely and carried their passengers to the Celtic. As the fourth was about to leave Captain Perry ordered it to return, saying at the same time that there was no cause to fear that the ship would founder. He admitted that the fourth compartment was full of water, but said the damage was limited to that" MT. Smith spoke highly of the disci- pline of the crew and the conduct of the off cers.
 The steerage passengers tell different story. Thirty or more of them found quar- ters tonight at the expense of the White Star line at lodging house on West street. Among them was Mrs. Robinson of Lynn, Mass, whose daughter was killed. She spoke bitterly of the treatment she received at the hands of the steamers officials. She said that after her child was killed it was represented to her by the stewardess that the little one was alive-and doing well. At the time she was giving all attention to her fourteen year-old boy, George, whose arm had received compound fracture from the falling rigging or the splintered rail. When she inquired after her daughter she learned that the girls body had been flung over- board.
 In the dingy office of the hotel the male passengers rehearsed their experiences. AmOuS tQom WAS tboDerC ForSyGno, or hQOOe Island. These men said that at the time of the collision it was not so thick but that they could see the Celtic two hundred feet away. They said no fog horns were blowing, but that the Britannia was running slowly. Ac- cording to their story the Celtic carried away
 the lower part of her bow, leaving a projec- tion nine feet in length on top. This projec- ton burst through the rail of the Britannie, ! and carried away her rigging rail and turtle bach as it glided along. They charge that when efforts were made to lower the boats the gear ran foul and rusty as though it had not been used in long time. There was a sud- den rush, mostly by the men, for the boats until Captain Perry drew his revolver and 1 threatened to shoot the next man who at tempted to enter the boat. The crew, in cluding the iremen and stokers, were among the most violent. Several of them succeed ed. Although there was not sufficient num- | Der of life preservers for the passengers,
 these men seized any that they could lay hands on. The wife of the man who was crushed when she saw her husbands body tossed into the sea- became frantic, shrieked | that she wanted to follow him and would
 have cast herself over the side had she not | been restrained by other passengers. There was great excitement everywhere, the crew being as badly frightened as the passengers and under very little con | trol of their superiors. Grove, one of the passengers, said he measured the rail where ! Caff1eQ away ana uo 4ouAo A1 Was tAAty-LWO ! full paces or over ninety feet. Eight or ten
 people were injured by the iron work as it fell or the woodwork as it crushed in. Four of these were brought on the Fletcher to St. vincent's hospital. They were the boy | George Robinson, Patrick Burks, aged forty | seven, of Wilkesbarre, Pa., who was taking | his wife on visit to Ireleand, William Law
 Ter, sixty-fve years, on the way from St.
 Louis to Ireland and young woman named
 Rose Kelley. Burke has his ribs fractured and suffered internal injuries and Lawler's hip was dislocated. These men are in a critical condition. Rose Kelley was injured l about the back and legs. The steerage pass | engers state that the known killed included | three men and woman and the girl. But 1 they believe that three others might be among the dead and thrown overheard. All 1 the bodies were thrown over during the night after the collision.
 Ball cannes Yesterday.